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A pretty garden ornament that adds grace and movement to your garden

These pretty little hummingbirds where another purchase that we made for our garden on impulse at a National Trust Property when my son was attracted to them.

What are they?***************These come in two sizes 7 inch birds and 4 inch birds. The model we have is the 7 inch long model of a hummingbird with sprung wings that sit on top of a 26 inch nylon rod. The idea of these is that they can be placed in the garden to add movement colour and decoration. There are several designs available the one we have has a green brown back, with a white and yellow stomach. The head is red and black and the wings are brown, green and white. It also has the long hummingbird black beak. The birds as well as having up 24 different colour combinations come in two different poses. The one we have is perhaps the most recognised of hummingbird poses that of a bird going to feed with its head and beak down wards. There is also one in fight with the head and beak up wards.

In use*******These little birds are beautifully designed and hand painted. I thought the bird was made out of metal but reading on the internet about them I have found that they are made of Styrene plastic. What goes into this type of plastic I have no idea but it is nice and light and does seem to make a tinny like sound when you tap the body of the bird. The wings are attached to the body by stainless steel springs the wings again are nice and light and have a lot of detail in them not only from the lacquer and painting but the shape of them has raised feather detail on the top of the wings giving it a more realistic shape and design. The painting follows this raised detail to give the wings some shading and further definition giving it the impression of individual feathers on the wings. The painting on the birds is all from UV resistant paint meaning there should be no fading and we haven't noticed any fading on our pretty bird after being in a south facing garden for nearly a year. The wings on the birds have two springs on each wing too attach them to the body of the bird it is these springs that give the bird such wonderful grace and movement when the wind catches them. This gives them the appearance of beating in the wind as the bird hovers over your plants. These springs have remained in place and suffered no damage during the winter in the garden or from the odd football knock it has taken. The bit that has seemed the most fragile to me is the long curved beak and I did worry that this would snap off if it got knocked but it has so far remained well attached and intact despite the odd football and toddler knock.

The bird is designed to catch the wind and I would recommend placing these in an open patch of ground as if they are in sheltered corner the wings just don't move really. Even in open spaces they just flap gently rather than beating in a fast and furious manner as a normal hummingbird but I personally can't find fault with the a gentle flap and think this is realistic enough for me.

Placing the stake the bird is attached to into the ground is a job of seconds and the strong nylon rod seems to sink into the earth a treat. With the rod being made of nylon this also sways nicely in the breeze and helps give the bird a wonderful sense of movement.

We have had ours placed amidst some bush plants and with the rod being green it has blended in well meaning the bird has looked as if it is in flight very well. As it does have some movement I am planning on moving it around my garden this year and placing it amongst the small vegetable plot my son and I have planted to act as a deterrent for the birds. I am hoping this pretty little bird will keep the naughty birds away from our peas and beans.

As this was an ornament my son picked it has continued to delight him and he loves watching it with some of the other ornaments in the garden as they move in the wind around us as we do gardening. I have to admit out of the various ornaments I have been persuade to buy this is one of the more tasteful in my opinion and given how well it has coped with the various elements and still looks like new and still flaps in the air I am tempted to buy some more of these pretty birds.

The sun and the snow of the past year has caused no damaged or faded the bird in anyway and it still looks nice and bright and flaps with gay abandonment in the garden. I think this is also due to the lacquer coating on it as well as the UV paint as this seems to give it a good amount of protection from the elements.

Overall******I would definitely recommend these cute little birds for the garden they have captured by sons imagination and add a sense of beauty and movement to our garden. They cope well with the British weather without any damage. At around £5.50 from stockiest such as Dobbies and about £6 from the National trust they are cheap and cheerful addition to any garden. If they can keep the real birds off my vegetables crops this summer they will be even more perfect.